The Narrator text-to-speech utility has a new version from its new owner. Mariner Software unveiled Narrator 2.1, which promises to improve upon OS X’s built-in voice synthesis features.
This is the first version of Narrator released by Mariner since the developer bought the application from Dejal back in June. Most of the changes in this release focus on rebranding the app under Mariner’s name. But the 2.1 update adds a few new features, including the ability to export audio in AAC format, export to iTunes, and fine-tune pronunciation.
Narrator uses text-to-speech technology to read stories, e-mails, and other documents pasted or imported into the application. Narrator lets users assign different characters to read different parts of the text with their own voices, rates, pitches, inflections, and volume.
Narrator 2.1 costs $40 and is available in English, French, and German. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. Current registered users can upgrade to version 2.1 for free.
Narrator 2.1